What's your favourite frying pan? Market Research

[DirtWhiskey]

Hey there!

I'm an avid ADV rider, Overlander and cook. I'm interested in what people are using to cook meals on when they are out camping! I'm a little frustrated with the cookware I've been using (GSI Pinnacle Frying Pan & MSR stainless pot set) and would like to bring to market a cookset that solves some of my issues. But I'd really like to know what people out here use and love already!

Could you tell me what pans/pots you currently use when cooking in the backcountry or camping?
Can you tell me about what works or do you love about your current equipment?
What are your main frustrations with your cookware?
What features would a dream frying pan or cookware set have for you?
Would you pay $80 for a new frying pan if it solved your camp cooking problems?

THANK YOU so much for your thoughts and opinions. I wholeheartedly appreciate your interest and input!

- Brent

Might be useful to know why you don't like the Pinnacle? It's the best non stick camping pan I've ever used. I have the 10". I have plenty of raw steel and cast iron stuff at home. Love them. But would never bring them overlanding or camping due to the long handles, making packing and storage hard, and weight.

 

[mike morrison]

 

[Bbrreenntt]

Might be useful to know why you don't like the Pinnacle? It's the best non stick camping pan I've ever used. I have the 10". I have plenty of raw steel and cast iron stuff at home. Love them. But would never bring them overlanding or camping due to the long handles, making packing and storage hard, and weight.

In regards to the pinnacle, it is a great pan, but my main gripes with it are
1) Teflon coating can't be heated over 400 degrees before it starts emitting toxic fumes.
2) The pan is aluminum, so it can't withstand high heat without warping. also can't be used on a fire
3) The coating is subject to abrasion. over a period of time the collapsed handle abraded a spot on the pan's non-stick surface.

Also, they aren't compatible with induction cooktops.

With your cast iron pan, if the handles weren't an issue, would you bring them overlanding?

THANKS!

 

[Bbrreenntt]

View attachment 759796

This looks like a creative solution to the problem! The square design makes a lot of sense for maximizing cooking surface area.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Pans are round because it is more efficient from a materials standpoint, burners are round, and even heating doesn’t lend itself well to cold corners.

My square lodge griddle is a great example.

However, you would be wise to use / check out Magma cookware before broadly assuming you can make a better mousetrap. There might be a few small areas to improve on Magma, but they check all the boxes for me pretty boldly.

 

[DaveNay]

However, you would be wise to use / check out Magma cookware

That company appears to specialize in inductive cookware. Completely useless in an overlanding context.

 

[NatersXJ6]

That company appears to specialize in inductive cookware. Completely useless in an overlanding context.

The set of stainless nesting pans in my chuckbox for the last 5 or 6 years begs to differ with your assertion. Additionally, just because something can be heated with induction does not prevent heating with other sources, cast iron and carbon steel come to mind. I also think you could find people on this forum talking about induction in trailers, although I’m not interested in going all electric anytime soon.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

In regards to the pinnacle, it is a great pan, but my main gripes with it are
1) Teflon coating can't be heated over 400 degrees before it starts emitting toxic fumes.
2) The pan is aluminum, so it can't withstand high heat without warping. also can't be used on a fire
3) The coating is subject to abrasion. over a period of time the collapsed handle abraded a spot on the pan's non-stick surface.

Also, they aren't compatible with induction cooktops.

With your cast iron pan, if the handles weren't an issue, would you bring them overlanding?

THANKS!

I've found concerns about Teflon burning off to be overblown on well made pans. There are millions of Teflon cooking pans in continuous service in commercial kitchen environments. You can also heat Teflon as much as you should really want. I mean you can't get it red hot but why would you need it to? Get it to near searing temp and add food, which disberses the heat, but you are correct that for protein sears, raw steel is much better. The coating wear concern is real, so I put shammy towels between my pans and have a number of pans, one of them a collapsible silicone pot from Sea to Summit, that nest nicely and have lasted through some very rough use with nary a scratch.

I think a lot of wear and tear is from stuff jangling around. So I put my pans inside a plastic box where they fit tight. Do you have an induction burner in your rig? I have also tried about 10 different detachable handle pans and none of them work well. Especially with saute tosses.

On those square pots, I don't get it. A key feature of a pan for me is it has to allow saute flips/tosses. So the sides can't be vertical and square shapes are a no go.

 

[Bbrreenntt]

I've found concerns about Teflon burning off to be overblown on well made pans. There are millions of Teflon cooking pans in continuous service in commercial kitchen environments. You can also heat Teflon as much as you should really want. I mean you can't get it red hot but why would you need it to? Get it to near searing temp and add food, which disberses the heat, but you are correct that for protein sears, raw steel is much better. The coating wear concern is real, so I put shammy towels between my pans and have a number of pans, one of them a collapsible silicone pot from Sea to Summit, that nest nicely and have lasted through some very rough use with nary a scratch.

I think a lot of wear and tear is from stuff jangling around. So I put my pans inside a plastic box where they fit tight. Do you have an induction burner in your rig? I have also tried about 10 different detachable handle pans and none of them work well. Especially with saute tosses.

On those square pots, I don't get it. A key feature of a pan for me is it has to allow saute flips/tosses. So the sides can't be vertical and square shapes are a no go.

I've done the same to protect my non-stick pan, and it seems to work. I've put the pan in my motorcycle panniers, where I think it's subject to high vibrations from the engine, and likely a much rougher ride off the pavement.

The square pans, I agree, don't seem to really be super functional cookware beyond boiling water, making soups, and the like. I also agree that you need to have a pan that functions like one in a normal kitchen. The GSI Pinnacle is pretty decent at that, I'll admit. What are some of the other detachable handle pans that you've tried? Besides being able to attain the perfect saute toss, what else would make a pan ideal for you? Thanks for your feedback, it's really helpful!

 

[Bbrreenntt]

Hardly useless.
Fwiw.
Since advent of inexpensive solar and lithium, Inductive cooking is everyday more popular with the big camper overlander people.

I think it's pretty cool to see lots of people using induction cooktops in the backcountry. Has so many positives! never having to spill stove fuel all over my hands ever again would be a real plus!!

 

[Bbrreenntt]

Pans are round because it is more efficient from a materials standpoint, burners are round, and even heating doesn’t lend itself well to cold corners.

My square lodge griddle is a great example.

However, you would be wise to use / check out Magma cookware before broadly assuming you can make a better mousetrap. There might be a few small areas to improve on Magma, but they check all the boxes for me pretty boldly.

Yeah, it makes sense that cookware has been circular forever, but it's good to see someone try and improve on it. I guess for some people they'd be happy to have uneven cooking temperatures in exchange for more efficient storage or stove space. Thanks for your input, super informative! will definitely check out what Magma is doing.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Yeah, it makes sense that cookware has been circular forever, but it's good to see someone try and improve on it. I guess for some people they'd be happy to have uneven cooking temperatures in exchange for more efficient storage or stove space. Thanks for your input, super informative! will definitely check out what Magma is doing.

I get the storage efficiency thing. I actually built my kit around square bowls and plates for a similar reason. I thought I would want to get the square griddle versus the round comal style for the extra space and ability to make 4 pancakes at a time, but I don’t often use it that way.

 

[TwinStick]

Mine is a 17" Lodge dual handle skillet. I can use it in the oven, on the gas bbq grill open or closed, over campfire, in campfire, on our "All American Grill" from the Made in America Store. Just today I cooked 18 sausages in it.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Recently picked up a Brandini high nitriding thin cast iron pan. Pretty non stick, but it is not a coating that will scratch off. Good stuff. Cast iron, reasonably non stick and very lightweight

 

[Sid Post]

I got a notification that a post I made here days ago was deleted for "referral links", but I am not enrolled in any affiliate programs nor do I have any interest in doing so; I wonder if a mod could let me know how to avoid that in the future, or why other product links are still up but my post was deleted. I simply posted the link I had to the product I bought - anything else was unintentional and unknown to me.

Sorry for the hijack - no need to reply here.

It was likely from the extra stuff on the URL you posted. Amazon is really bad about adding a lot of text past the item number in their URLs for referrals to charity groups in addition to referral links to various social media personalities. This true on many forums, not just here.